The EU’s Renewable Energy Directive states that 20% of its total energy needs must be met with renewables by 2020. Time is running out, so Brussels is bankrolling boffins to avoid the embarrassment of missing the target. That’s why almost €3 million was spent on a four year project trying to generate electricity. From urine…

Netherlands-based research group ValueFromUrine is yet to report its conclusions despite finishing its work in August. It claims its technology is based on the “innovative principle” of using microbes and charged metal rods to draw out hydrogen, ammonia and phosphorous from wee. These elements are apparently useful in industry and for electricity generation. The research was partly inspired by a secondary school homework project put together by a group of Nigerian teenagers. Their dirt cheap pee-powered generator was presented to the world with much fanfare in 2012 but has since been comprehensively debunked by scientists and energy businesses. Likewise, ValueFromUrine’s overall principle is sound but not commercially viable because a £4,000 pump is needed to keep vital bacteria alive in the apparatus. €3 million up the wall…